


Suspension

by maddieee1



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Irondad, Peter Parker Has Nightmares, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker flips on Tony Stark, Peter Parker has PTSD, Sad Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddieee1/pseuds/maddieee1
Summary: Peter has nightmares about homecoming, and he has been ignoring Tony's calls for over two weeks.Peter gets into a fight and gets suspended. A big argument takes place, and details from certain events may slip.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this story may contain topics/mentions such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and eating disorders, so if any of these could be triggering for you, I do not recommend reading

The nightmares started only a week after Homecoming. At first, they weren’t so bad. All Peter had to do was get up and grab a drink or something, and he could easily fall back into a peaceful sleep. Now, he couldn’t even tell they were dreams until he was woken up by May, which happened every night.

He always claimed that he could never remember them, but it was really the complete opposite. He remembers every detail of every nightmare. The feeling he gets when he realizes what Toomes was doing all along, the feeling of an entire building crushing him, and the feeling of loneliness when he comes to the realization that no one will come to save him. The last one is definitely the worst. Sometimes he hears people laughing at him for being so weak. Sometimes it’s May, Flash, or the other Avengers, but it’s usually Mr. Stark. Ever since he’s had those dreams, the sound of Mr. Stark laughing and saying how weak Peter is has become one of his worst fears.

And that is only one reason Peter has been ignoring Mr. Stark’s calls for the past two weeks. He can’t let Mr. Stark find out about the nightmares, or the constant anxiety he has when he walks into a building. He doesn’t need Mr. Stark to confirm one if his worst fears.

It’s a Friday, and a few weeks ago, Peter would be going to stay with Mr. Stark, but he knows he can’t now. He doesn’t know if he can ever go back. Mr. Stark hasn’t called or texted in the past few days, so maybe he forgot about Peter already.

The day went about as worse as it could have gone for Peter. He skipped breakfast, and he still somehow managed to be late for class. He should’ve known then that it wouldn’t be a good day for him. As soon as he walked into class, he was greeted by Flash.

“Hey look! Penis Parker is late. Again! Is the Stark internship too much for you?”

Peter tried to ignore him, but with Flash shooting comments at him the entire class, it was difficult.

“You don’t look to good Parker. Maybe you should call Tony Stark to come pick you up? Since you’re so close and all…”

“Could you just shut up?!”

Peter even surprised himself with his remark.

“What did you say to me?”

Well it was too late to back down now. “I said. Shut. Up.”

Peter Parker was finally done dealing with Flash and his bullying.

“You’re gonna pay for that, Penis Parker.’’

“I can’t wait.”

 

He barely made it to lunch without falling asleep in class, and he was beginning to get very irritated with Ned. He keeps asking if Peter is okay and if he is getting enough sleep. Peter knows that Ned is just being his usual caring self, but Peter doesn’t need Ned worrying about him.

Peter was just about to offer Ned his sandwich when he saw Flash coming up to them.

“Here we go.”

“Wha-“ Before Ned even knew what was going on, Peter had been torn from his seat by a very angry Flash.

“So Penis, you think you can do whatever you want now, huh?”

“If by ‘what ever I want’ you mean not taking any of your shit, then yes I do think that.”

No one knew where this side of Peter came from, but Flash was not happy about it.

Flash tried to swing at Peter, but he easily dodged it with his enhanced senses. Then it was Peter’s turn to swing, and unluckily for Flash, he did not have enhanced senses to dodge the punch. Which hit him square in the nose. Peter could feel Flash’s nose snap, and then blood was everywhere.

Even though Peter did not feel bad for Flash, he did instantly regret punching him in school as soon as he saw the teachers running over to them. He knew the consequences would not be fun.

It was only while Peter was sitting in the principle’s office that he realized what he had done. He had punched Flash. May was obviously going to know what happened, but Peter knew May would tell Mr. Stark. May had known that Flash and Peter didn’t get along, but she didn’t know how far things had gone. But Mr. Stark had always questioned Peter about being bullied, but he had always denied it. Now Mr. Stark would not only find out that Peter had lied to him, but he would think Spider-Man was too much of a baby to handle a little bully. Well, until now, and Peter didn’t even want to imagine the consequences for this incident.

After another hour of sitting in the principle’s office, Peter and Flash’s punishment had been decided. A five day suspension, and they were to be picked up immediately.

“Five day suspension? He’s the one who broke my nose!”

“Yes Mr. Thompson, but if you wouldn’t have instigated the fight, we wouldn’t be here. Now, we will be calling your parents to come get you, so I suggest you gather your things and head out to the front office.”

Since it was already Friday, that means Peter would be out all next week, and now May has to leave work to pick him up. She was going to kill him.

 

The secretary told them that the contacts on their records had been informed of the situation, and they would be at the school shortly.

Of all the things that could happen, Peter was not expecting an angry Mr. Stark to walk into the office.

“Mr. Stark? What are you doing here?”

“Oh. There you are.”

Tony turned to the starstruck secretary, “So am I supposed to sign him out or something?”

The secretary pushed the clipboard with the sign out sheet over to Tony, and he scrawled his signature, Peter’s name, and the date on the paper.

“Come on kid, let’s go.”

“What? May is supposed to pick me up.”

“Well May would be here, but I guess during your little brawl you forgot she has a job. She called me to help her out, so here I am. So… Lets. Go. We’ve got a to talk about on the way back to the compound.”

Tony began to walk out of the office, and Peter gathered his things. Flash seemed to have found his words again.

“Holy shit Penis. So you weren’t lying about the internship?”

“Why the fuck would I lie about a Stark Internship Flash? And can you just stop with the Penis Parker?”

At that, Tony whirled around, and walked right up to Flash.

“What did you call him?”

“Um-uh. Well, I-’’

“You better hope I never find out you called him that again, or it will not be pretty for you.”

“Um. Yeah okay. Never again, sir.” And for some reason Flash did a weird salute thing that almost made Peter burst out laughing.

“Good.” Tony turned and grabbed Peter by the shoulder and drug him out to the car.

As soon as they were both in the car, Tony started the engine and sped off. No one spoke until Tony finally broke the silence.

“What the fuck was that?”

“I just got into a fight, thats all. It's not that big of a deal. You can take me home, and—“

“Nope. May asked me to keep you at the compound while you’re suspended. She said—”

“What? Why would she—“

“If you would let me finish, I was just about to tell you why. She has to work everyday, so she thought you would be better off at the compound where I can keep an eye on you.”

“So basically, you are my babysitter for the next nine days. Great.”

“Yes. Four days with the weekends, and five with your suspension.”

“Yeah thanks Mr. Stark, but I already had the math figured out.”

“Excuse me?’’

“You heard me.”

As much as Tony wanted to say something back, he couldn’t get any words out of his mouth. He has never heard the kid talk to anyone the way he is right now, let alone him. It’s like Peter is a completely different person. He hasn’t been answering his calls for what feels like forever, so he just stoped calling. He didn’t want to bother the kid. He doesn’t know what he did wrong, and trying to figure out what the hell he did do was nearly killing him.

Despite Tony’s attempts at conversation, Peter barely said anything to him the entire night. Tony even offered to watch Star Wars with him, and got turned down instantly. He could barely get Peter to eat, and Pete usually loves eating.

First he gets into a fight, then he flips on Tony, he doesn’t want to talk, and now he won’t eat? Tony was really starting to worry about the kid.

Around seven o’clock, Peter announces he’s tired and is going to bed.

“Oh. Don’t you want to go work in the lab?”

“No, not really.” Peter turns and heads down the hall towards his bedroom.

“Well, goodnight I guess,” Tony says to no one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter sneaks out to go on patrol, but it doesn't end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****same trigger warnings as the first chapter*****

Instead of going to bed, Peter decides to sneak out to go on patrol. Technically, Tony never said Peter couldn’t leave the compound, and apparently he never told F.R.I.D.A.Y. or Karen that Peter couldn’t leave either. He didn’t feel one bit of guilt as he changed into his suit and left the compound.

After the first few hours of patrol, Peter had stopped a robbery, helped a little boy find his mother, and got an old lady’s cat from a tree. Other than that, patrol has been pretty uneventful which has given Peter plenty of time to think.

He still doesn’t understand what the big deal is over one little fight. Spider-Man gets in worse fights then that almost every night, and both May and Tony know that. It’s not like Peter did any serious damage either. If he really wanted, he could’ve given Flash way more than a broken nose. In all truthfulness, they should be happy that’s all Flash ended up with. Do they not trust Peter? Are they worried he’s going out of control? Maybe Aunt May made Mr. Stark take Peter while he’s suspended because she’s scared of him. 

Peter knows he shouldn’t think these things, but it’s hard not too. Ever since Homecoming, Peter always has this feeling that everyone he cares about is going to abandon him. He’s not sure why, but it probably has to do with with being trapped under a building knowing no one will save him. 

Peter really needs to stop thinking about Homecoming. He can’t have a panic attack while on patrol, but no matter how hard he tries, the feeling of being trapped keeps coming back to him. It’s never been this bad.

“Peter? Your heart rate is rising at an alarming speed. Should I call Mr. Stark?”

“Wh-what? No. Don’t call Mr. Stark. I’m fine.”

“Peter you seem to be having the early symptoms of a panic attack. I really think it would be wise to contact Mr. Stark.”

“No. Karen, p-please don’t call Mr. Stark.”

This whole conversation is taking place while Peter is swinging from building to building. His breathing is heavy, and his limbs feel weak. His motions are becoming more and more reckless as he finds himself getting closer to a full on panic attack. 

“Peter, at least take a minute to catch your breath and calm down.”

“I don't need to rest. I feel fine.”

“Well your vitals say otherwise, and you seem to be hyperventilating. Peter, if you don’t stop, I will have to call Mr. Stark.”

Mr. Stark can’t know that Peter left. If he does, then he might keep a closer eye on Peter, and Mr. Stark can’t find out that Peter has been struggling with himself. What would Mr. Stark even think of him? 

“O-okay fine.”

Just as Peter tried swing onto the roof of a an old warehouse building, he ran out of web fluid and came up short. The only thing he can feel is the ground rapidly becoming closer, and then everything went dark.

Karen had already alerted Mr. Stark even though Peter told her not too. She was under orders from Tony that she was to report anything unusual with the kid. He arrived only seconds after the fall, but the damage was already done. All Tony could see was Peter laying, unmoving, on the sidewalk by an old warehouse. Luckily, there was no one around to witness the fall, at least from what Tony could tell. 

“F.R.I.? Vitals.”

“There is a pulse, sir, but he needs medical attention immediately.”

Tony scooped Peter up, and flew him back to the compound as fast as he could. He had already called the doctors, and they were preparing the med bay. 

As soon as Tony landed, the doctors strapped Peter to a stretcher and took him for x-rays. It turns out, Peter has several broken ribs, some head injuries, and countless other cuts and scrapes. Peter is extremely lucky he is much stronger and can heal faster than the average person, or else he would be dead.

Tony wasn’t able to see Peter for several hours since Peter had to go through several tests to make sure his head injuries weren’t too serious. He couldn’t get the image from the kid falling from the sky out of his mind. Tony didn’t actually see Peter’s fall in person, but he did see it on security cameras while he was making sure no pedestrians saw the incident. Luckily no one but a few pigeons were there to witness the fall.

After several hours, the doctor came to Tony and told him that Peter seems to be in a coma—like state, but otherwise he is fine, and Tony was also allowed to visit Peter.

“What do you mean otherwise he is fine?!”

“Well, his enhanced healing is already taking affect, so he should wake up in a day or two.”

“He should wake up, but what if he doesn’t? What am I supposed to tell his aunt? ‘Oh yeah, by the way, I let your kid sneak out to go on patrol, and he fell off of a building, but he’s fine other than the fact that he is in a coma!” 

“Well I’m pretty sure you didn’t willingly let him sneak—“

“Well of course I didn’t willingly let him sneak out, but it’s still my fault that he was able to!”

“You can’t blame yourself for everything all of the time Mr. Stark.”

“Well its hard not to when it usually is your fault.”

At that, Tony stormed past the doctor and straight into Peter’s room. When he enters, he sees Peter connected to all kinds of tubes and machines which is just about enough to send his thoughts into overdrive. If he wasn’t already feeling guilty, he definitely was now.

“Come on Tony, you cant do this now.” He says to himself.

He grabs the chair and pulls it up to Peter’s bedside, and begins to apologize.

“Alright listen Pete, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve known you weren’t going to bed that early. Looking back, I also should’ve known that you were going through some stuff. Before you stopped answering my calls, you barely talked. It was like you lost all your energy. I thought it could’ve been stress from juggling school and Spider-Man, but I have a feeling there are some things you haven’t told me. So when you wake up, I’ve got a lot of questions, and I’m gonna need you to answer them. Okay? C’mon Pete, please wake up soon.”

Eventually, Tony falls asleep in the chair, and he isn’t woken up until Pepper comes in. She suggests he gets a shower and sleeps in an actual bed. Tony really didn’t want to leave Peter, but he knew sitting in that room all night would not be healthy for himself. Of course, Tony knew he’d never be able to sleep, but he tried for Pepper’s sake. He climbed out of bed as soon as it was a reasonable hour, got dressed, went straight to the med bay, and into the room Peter was occupying. He was alarmed to see that the doctors were in there already, checking all the machines that were connected to Peter.

“What’s going on? Is he alright?”

“Everything seems to be fine, except Peter seems to be having nightmares.”

“Nightmares? How do you know?”

“Well, his heart rate has escalated, and he is showing other signs of distress.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Nothing at the moment, he won’t wake up. We’ve already tried. There is nothing we can do at this moment. I’m sorry Tony.”

After the doctors left, Tony pulled his chair back up to Peter’s side. He figures maybe Peter’s nightmares will subside if someone tries to comfort him, so Tony sits there for the next hour or so and tries to reassure Peter that everything is okay. Tony doesn’t leave until Pepper forces him to leave around 9am, so he can eat.

“You can’t sit in there forever, you know. You have to eat sometime.”

Pepper made Tony breakfast that consisted of bacon, eggs, and waffles. Tony found it hard to eat while he knew Peter was alone and suffering through a seemingly endless nightmare. 

“Tony. Eat. How do you think Peter would feel if he knew you were struggling like this because of him?”

“Well based on the last few conversations we had, I’m not quite sure.”

“Seriously? That kid looks up to you more than anyone else. You are the closest thing he has to a father, Tony. It only makes sense that you have arguments sometimes. He needs you to stay strong, and if you think Peter won’t doesn’t care about you, you’re kidding yourself.”

Tony doesn’t speak. He cant speak. Does Peter really think of him as a father? What if Tony lets Peter down like Tony’s father did with him. He can’t turn out like his father.

“You aren’t your father Tony.”

Somehow, Pepper can always read people’s minds, yet no one is quite sure how. 

Tony won’t be his father. He will be there for Peter and will make sure Peter knows there are many people who care about him.

After eating, Tony gets a shower and heads back to sit with Peter. He eventually falls asleep again, but no one wakes him up this time since they know he won’t be able to sleep anywhere else. 

At some point after midnight, Tony is woken up to Peter talking in his sleep.

“Help, please! Someone help me!”

“What?”

“I’m under here! Plea-please help me!”

“Woah, listen kid. I’m right here. It’s me, Tony. You’re safe Pete.”

“No, no I- I’m not weak.”

“No. No of course you’re not weak. Come on Underoos, you are Spider-Man. You’re strong, stronger than anyone I know.”

This goes on for a few more minutes until Peter eventually becomes fully awake. 

“Mr-Mr. Stark? Where am I? What happened? You look like absolute shit by the way.”

“Wow. Thanks kid, and here I was thinking i was just glowing while I was waiting to see if you would ever wake up. But to answer your questions, you are in the med bay. You snuck out the first night you were here to go on patrol, and lets just say you took a pretty bad fall.”

“I think I remember everything right before I fell, and I’m pretty sure I passed out as I was falling.”

“Karen told me you were having a panic attack?”

“Yeah, I guess. She said I should take a break, but when I went to swing onto the roof of an old building, I ran out of web fluid.”

“Alright kid, well I’m gonna go tell the doctors you are awake. I think you still need to get some rest, but once you’re cleared, I’ve got a lot of questions that I’m gonna need you to answer. Okay?”

“Um, yeah okay Mr. Stark.”

Peter knew Mr. Stark wouldn’t forget about the panic attack, and he wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. He knew he should probably go back to sleep, but all he could think about was Mr. Stark saying how weak he was over and over while a building was crushing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took awhile to get this second chapter up. school has me strugglingggg lately, but I'll try to get the next one up sooner!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!!! its been a WHILE but I'm back?? I think?? I hope. anyways this is a short chapter, but I just need to get back into it. I hope I can update regularly now that schools out for a while. I can't believe the last time I updated this was in February its ridiculous!!!!! endgame came out what feels like ages ago and FFH comes out NEXT WEEK so I'm SUPERRRR behind everything that has happened/will happen but I don't necessarily mind. but yea hope you enjoy see more notes at the end!!!

After another full day of rest in the med bay, Peter was finally cleared. He still felt weak and drowsy, but he could at least walk around without crutches.

Tony hated seeing the kid like this. Peter looked like a ghost of his old self. Peter still didn’t say much, and he looked like he could burst into tears at any second. He didn’t spend much time out of his room either. The only time he left was to eat, but he still would only eat a fraction of what he used to.

Tony cleared his schedule for the next few days. He needed to talk to him. He knows Peter isn’t just hurt physically. It’s become much clearer after witnessing him go through that nightmare that he has some trauma that he’s been dealing with. Tony isn’t going to let him go through that on his own anymore.

Maybe Peter just needs a break. He seems exhausted. Carrying the weight of school, Spider-Man, and who knows what else is probably taking its toll on him. He always worries about others, and never thinks about himself.

For the rest of the day, Tony thinks about what he’s going to say, and how he’ll say it. He doesn’t want anything to come out wrong and make Peter feel worse. Tony is just worried about the kid, and he just wants to keep him safe. But Tony has never been in a situation like this. Peter is practically his kid, not that he’d ever admit to it.

His conversation with Pepper came back to him. The thought of Peter looking up to him and seeing him as a father figure scared him more than anything. He wasn’t made to be a father, hell, he barely had a father himself. What was he supposed to know about caring for a kid?

_“Oh hey Pete! By the way I care about you a lot, and I don’t know what I’d ever do if anything happened to you. Actually, wait I know what I’d do! I’d blame myself and then hunt down whoever hurt you and make sure they can never feel anything again by tearing off their limbs! I think of you as a son, but I’m too scared to show affection because I grew up having a shit father so I don’t know how fathers even work!”_

_I can’t do this._ Tony thought to himself. He didn’t even realize he was pacing until now. Tony collapsed into the chair next to him and let out a sigh. _What if..?_

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tony didn’t even hear Pepper walk into the room.

Tony looks up at her with obvious fear in his eyes. “What if I ruined him? This whole thing never would’ve happened if I didn’t get attached to him. Maybe it would be better if I stayed away.”

“Tony. I know Peter isn’t doing the best right now, but you leaving him is the worst thing you could do. Peter needs you, no matter what little argument you guys had. You are like family to him, and even if you won’t admit it, you feel the same for him too.”

“I need to talk to him.”

“Thats the smartest thing you’ve said all day. _Go_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there wasn't much from Peter this chapter but you'll see more next chapter. anyways, let me know if there's anything you want to see happen in this story!! I have ideas for the near future, but after that it gets a little rocky, and I'd love to hear your ideas! I know my Peter is a little ooc in this story but I kinda like him being sassy thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!! (hopefully!)

**Author's Note:**

> sooo this is my first fic!! (well the first I've ever posted...) so let me know how I'm doing and leave suggestions on how I could improve!!! I'm not sure how many chapters this will have, and it has already gone in a completely different direction then I had planned, so we'll see what happens!


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